SPRINGBOK CYBER NEWSLETTER
November 1998 Edition.As you probably realise, we took a couple of bad "knocks" during the last month - but even so support for and interest in the Springbok Club continues to grow, and indeed we had a number of quite encouraging developments during September also. Our cause is just and we are determined to succeed in our aims, so it therefore will take a lot more to curtail our activities!
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OCTOBER SPRINGBOK CLUB MEETING
Tragedy of course struck us when our planned guest speaker for October, Nicholas Budgen, the former M.P. for Wolverhampton South-West, sadly died before he could fulfil his speaking commitment with us. We knew that Nicholas Budgen was a dying man when we were recommended to approach him to speak at one of our meetings (and indeed it is believed that he was particularly keen to address us because he wanted to go out "with all guns blazing"), but even so no-one realised that the end would come as quickly as it did. We were most fortunate, however, to be able to welcome a most illustrious last-minute replacement speaker in the form of the 13th Lord Belhaven and Stenton. Before the meeting begun a minute's silence was observed for Nicholas Budgen, and then his close colleague James Lewis of the W.I.S.E. association gave a short address in which he recounted his last few meetings with Nicholas Budgen, and surmised what he believed he intended to say. Lord Belhaven and Stenton then gave a most enthralling speech, in which he outlined why Britain's traditional links with the original Dominions of the Commonwealth - particularly South Africa - were so much more valuable than Britain's continuing disasterous membership of the EU. During question time he was asked when he considered the "rot set in" which led to the fall of South Africa, and immediately replied that it was when Mountbatten surrendered India! Unfortunately many supporters evidently thought that upon Nicholas Budgen's death our October meeting would be cancelled, so the attendence for such a distinguished guest was embarrassingly small. The Springbok Club is continuing to attract an increasingly high calibre of guest speakers, so we must try to ensure that we give them the full support that they deserve.
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LEON STRYDOM VISIT
The other serious problem which we encountered was the debacle which surrounded the proposed visit of Leon Strydom, the South African political commentator, to London. Leon Strydom had been an early supporter of the original S.A.Patriot, but for some unknown reason did not retain contact with us after we were forced to relocate operations "in exile". We were informed of his imminent visit to Europe only at very short notice, so we asked for him to make contact with us prior to our October meeting so that we could make arrangements for a subsequent informal get-together, and to announce the details then. This, alas, he failed to do. When he did make contact with us a few days later, moreover, he was still unable to inform us of his precise travel plans. We went ahead and arranged a tentative itinerary for him for the date when he most anticipated being in London even so, and 'phoned around to many of our most active supporters in order to ensure that there would be a good turn-out to meet him. Unfortunately, however, he failed to re-contact us by the date that he promised to confirm his travel plans, and two subsequent 'phone calls which we made to his contact address in Germany remained unanswered. Furthermore, we were subsequently informed by this German contact that he had left their accommodation and that they were unsure where he had gone to. We were therefore left with no alternative other than to cancel the entire arrangements. We must therefore apologise to all supporters for any inconvenience which this state of affairs may have caused. Although we subsequently surprisingly heard from Leon Strydom once he did eventually arrive in London, he could give us no explanation for his discourtesy, and we are still awaiting an apology from him for the way he messed us around.
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BRANCH DEVELOPMENT
We will be having another attempt to launch the Kent Branch of the Springbok Club on Friday 27th November. Anyone living in the county who would like to attend should therefore contact us at the usual address. Lancashire and Hampshire are two other counties where there are definite plans afoot to launch branches, so again anyone interested in either of these counties please let us know.
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SOUTH AFRICAN FLAG MERCHANDISE FOR SALE
We have been very fortunate to obtain a selection of real South African flag "souvenirs" from a Swiss colleague who is a very good friend of the South African cause. Items available and prices are as follows :-
South African flag lapel badges - £5.00 each.
South African flag car stickers - £2.00 each.
South African table flags - £6.00 (with base) or £5.00 (without base).
[please add 50p for p.& p. - 30p if only ordering stickers.]
For full details of the offer check out the S.A.Patriot-in-Exile web-page at :-
http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~springbk/patriot
All payments should of course be made payable to "Patriotic Press", and sent to : BCM SAPAT, London WC1N 3XX, U.K..
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FUTURE SPRINGBOK CLUB MEETINGS
We will be holding a special Day of the Vow commemoration function on Tuesday 15th December at our usual venue, the Morpeth Arms in Pimlico, London S.W.1. Yes, we know that this is a day early - but by the time the gathering finishes it will be December 16th South African time! We are anticipating welcoming a most eminent personality, well-known on the South African scene, as our Guest of Honour at this event, and precise details will be given once finalised in the December edition of this newsletter. Buffet snacks will also be provided at this function, but in order to defray costs we will be asking the small amount of £3.50 per head. Tickets will of course be available at the door, but anybody who would like to pay in advance, or who cannot attend but would like to assist our cause, should again send payments to "Patriotic Press", BCM SAPAT, London WC1N 3XX, U.K..
We have also arranged a most exciting PROVISIONAL itinerary of events for 1999, which can be seen in detail on our Springbok Club web-page at :-
http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~springbk/springbk
As you will see, we've planned a very good mix of "serious" and "social" events for next year, so we hope that as many supporters as possible will able to patronise us as often as they can. You will also see that our excursion to Amsterdam (which unfortunately had to be postponed from November as a "knock-on effect" from the Leon Strydom trip debacle) has now been re-scheduled for July - though the date may have to be swapped around if any of our overseas guest speakers cannot make their provisional dates.
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BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
One of our supporters, Nick Read from Canada, tells us about an interesting home-based business opportunity which he has to offer. This evidently involves the retailing of certain nutritional products, so if anyone is interested they should contact Nick direct at : neosmurf@escape.ca
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
A regular feature where we ask if anyone knows the current whereabouts of a friend or colleague who has lost contact.
No.4 : Mr. Patrick Kenney.
Patrick Kenney was very active in campaigns opposing municipal integration in Durban during the 1970s. He was an energetic and fearless campaigner during those days, and undoubtedly his talents could still be a great asset in today's struggle. We are uncertain whether he is still in South Africa, but if anyone knows anything about his current whereabouts please let us know.
[We were planning to make an important enquiry concerning a lost relative of a Rhodesian supporter in this column this month - but happily we have just learnt that he has been traced! This demonstrates the effectiveness of such "cyber enquiries", so if you have any lost friend or colleague who you would like to try to trace please let us know.]
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RECOMMENDED WEB-SITE
Another regular feature, in which we recommend a web-site which we feel may be of interest to readers. This month's site belongs to an organisation which we are very close to, and which indeed we feel shares the same basic aims and objectives as we do - the American-based Falklands Society. The Falkland Islands, of course, faced the same threat of alien takeover as South Africa did during the 1980's - though they happily were rescued from invasion by the British forces during Margaret Thatcher's glorious rule. The Falklands Society, however, is not only concerned with Falkland Islands affairs, and have as one of their main aims the fostering of good U.S./U.K. relations as were in existance during the Reagan/Thatcher years. Well worth a visit at :-
http://www.falklands.org
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See you again next month!
